Melbourne Victory has come from two goals down to pull off a dramatic 3-2 win over Sydney FC at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.
Trailing early after strikes from Shannon Cole and Brendan Gan in the opening four minutes of the game, Archie Thompson pulled one back for the home side on 14 minutes in what was a frantic opening to the match.
Still trailing by one goal at half-time and with 20 minutes remaining, Victory coach Ernie Merrick brought on Nick Ward and Ney Fabiano and the duo made an immediate impact as they scored a goal apiece to seal the win.
Ward produced a world-class strike from well outside the penalty area with his first touch, before Fabiano ensured the home side took all three points by tapping in at the back post after 80 minutes.
The win sees Melbourne jump up to second place on the Hyundai A-League ladder, while Sydney FC remains in sixth position and is in grave danger of missing the finals for the first time ever.
It didn’t take long for the game to heat up with Cole giving his side the lead after just 30 seconds after curling a strike around Michael Theoklitos in Melbourne’s goal.
Just moments later Sydney FC doubled its advantage as Gan produced a wonderful strike from outside the penalty area as the Victory defence was once again left flat-footed at the back.
Shocked at the scoreline, Melbourne slowly started to work its way back into the game and some quick thinking from Carlos Hernandez allowed Thompson to score after 14 minutes.
Hernandez quickly took a free kick in the middle of the park and skillfully picked out Thompson unmarked in the box as the Victory striker side footed the shot past Ivan Necevski in goal and straight into the back of the net.
The game continued to flow as both teams attacked and tried to find another goal.
Hernandez twice tried his luck from a long-range free kick and Necevski tipped one of those chances over the bar, while Theoklitos saved well from Alex Brosque’s attempt on goal at the other end.
Danny Allsopp should have equalised for the home side on 38 minutes, but he could only shoot wide with just Necevski to beat in goal as Sydney FC took a narrow 2-1 lead into half-time.
The pace of the match slowed down early in the second half, but things certainly brightened up when Victory coach Ernie Merrick introduced Ward into the fray with 20 minutes remaining.
With his first touch on the pitch, Ward produced a sensational strike to level proceedings prompting Sydney FC coach John Kosmina to bring on out of form striker John Aloisi.
But Aloisi could make little impact as another second half substitute – Fabiano – was on hand at the back post to prod home for Melbourne after Allsopp headed the ball across the face of goal.
Mark Bridge had two half chances late in the match to equalise for his side, but Melbourne’s defence held its nerve as the vocal home crowd went home happy.
Melbourne Victory 3 (Thompson 14′, Ward 71′, Fabiano 80′)
Sydney FC 2 (Cole 1′, Gan 4′)
Crowd: 25,398 @ Telstra Dome.
